Savior
by SherlockXHolmes23
Summary: After Kate dies, Neal begins to think more and more about revenge. About killing the one man he holds responsible. When it gets to be too much, Peter tries to save him from the one thing he can't protect. Himself.


Author's Notes: I know I probably should be working on Family Heritage, but this wouldn't get out of my head... Anyways, this is a song!fic. Lyrics are from the song Savior, by Skillet. Hope you enjoy it.

Disclaimer: Both the lyrics and the characters are not mine. Lyrics belong to Skillet, and the characters belong to Jeff Eastin.

* * *

><p><em>I'm everything you've wanted<em>

_I am the one who's haunting you_

_I am the eyes inside of you_

_Stare back at you_

* * *

><p>In the criminal underworld, Neal Caffrey is considered a god among men. If you want the impossible done, you go to him. If you want anything done right, you go to him. But lately… things have been changing. And not in a good way.<p>

Neal was soaring high, living the good life, doing what he does best… until the sun melted his wings. He started to fall… fall down into the deep depths of despair. Some say he did it on purpose, to see how it felt. But only a few know the real reason why Neal let himself get arrested.

Love. He did it for love. He thought that if he showed the world he could change, then she would run back into his arms, glad that their romance would begin once more. He was never more wrong in his life.

He let the love he felt for Kate run the show. It was his only real motivation in the world, and it made him do crazy things. Things that were considered sane in his love-addled mind. Neal didn't care what other's thought about her, as long as they loved each other everything would be fine.

And everything was fine _(Neal's definition of fine, of course)_ for a while. He was working with the Bureau, something he never thought he would enjoy as much as he did, and on the side Neal would search for more clues about Kate. Those clues lead him to a hangar by the Hudson, where an airplane was waiting to whisk them away.

It was like a dream come true. Neal could finally accomplish his white-picket fence dream with the only woman he truly loved. He had been waiting for this moment for his entire life. But then his dream shattered right before his very eyes. The plane blew up with Kate in it and he couldn't do anything to save her. Peter was holding him back, as if he wanted Neal to watch as Kate was viciously burned to death.

To this very day, Kate's death still haunts Neal. No matter what he does, or who stays the night with him, he knows that the nightmares will come. The cruel, gruesome nightmares that only end when Neal is forced awake. Whenever he closes his eyes, he sees her. Her face, those wonderfully blue eyes, the way her sable hair framed her face…. Neal wants it to stay this way, forever sleeping…forever seeing her face, but he knows that sooner or later he will be forced to wake.

And that's something he doesn't want. Not now… not when all of this is still too fresh in his mind. Neal wants to remain in this ignorant bliss of a prison, where he can imagine that Kate is late and not dead.

* * *

><p><em>There's nothing left to lose<em>

_There's nothing left to prove_

_Surrender your love_

_It's all you can do, yeah_

* * *

><p>Revenge… It's something that has been lurking in the back of his mind ever since the explosion. Peter has been trying to convince him that it isn't right, that justice will prevail, but Neal can't help but think otherwise. He doesn't expect Peter to understand what he's going through, for many different reasons.<p>

For one thing, Peter has never lost someone he cared about. Neal's checked, the man has never lost someone special, someone that he loved. So who is he to chastise Neal for wanting revenge? Sure, it isn't the right thing to do, and it could very well put him back behind bars, but Neal will do anything to get answers. Answers that he desperately needed.

Neal doesn't care how it happens; he just wants whoever it is that killed her to suffer. Suffer like she did. He knows that Peter will try and stop him, try and protect him from himself, but it won't do Peter any good. Neal's already proven how far he will go for the truth. A fact that Peter has yet to deal with.

Neal knows that even if Peter was able to catch and convict Kate's killer, it wouldn't be enough. Anything less than death itself wouldn't be enough. They took away the one thing that was good in his life, and they were going to learn the hard way that stealing from Neal Caffrey has consequences.

* * *

><p><em>What you got<em>

_What you need_

_Everything's gonna crash and break_

* * *

><p>Peter doesn't want Neal to ruin his life. No matter what has been said in the past, Peter has never wanted Neal to ruin what he has. He finally has a chance at a life, a life that doesn't include stealing from people, and he's ready to throw it all away for some girl… It was unbelievable.<p>

But then again, Kate was an unbelievable girl. At least in Neal's eyes she was. In Peter's however… not so much. The woman had held him at gunpoint, just because he had worn his 10 year F.B.I ring. It was meant to scare her into revealing that Fowler had her, but he never thought that she would pull out a gun. Peter just assumed that Neal had taught her to lead a life of gun-less crimes.

Regardless of what Neal thought, he did have a life here… a good one at that. Peter doesn't want to watch all of it go down the drain. He doesn't want to see Neal do something that he'll regret in the future. That they all will regret.

Peter tries to stop his efforts, tries to stop Neal from doing something they both might regret. What he doesn't know is how far Neal is willing to go for Kate. If Neal was willing to get arrested twice for her, just how far will Neal go before it's too late?

All Peter knows is that he has to stop whatever Neal has planned, before any blood is spilt. He doesn't want Neal to become a killer… He knows that it's one of the many things that the con prides himself on, and he doesn't want it to ruin the young man he's come to care for.

* * *

><p><em>I'm watching you<em>

_Cause you need me_

_Yeah, yeah, cause you need me_

_I'm watching you_

* * *

><p>Peter has tried confronting Neal, has tried telling him that revenge was the easy way out, but they don't seem to work. Neal is slowly becoming obsessed with revenge, a fact that Peter is somewhat scared of.<p>

He's seen what Neal can do with a gun; he's seen what Neal is capable of when enraged. He doesn't like to admit it, but the thought of Neal wielding a gun is scary. Sure, Fowler deserves what's coming, but that doesn't mean that Peter wants it to happen. He'd rather have the man rot in prison, suffering for the rest of his life, than the cause of Caffrey's fall back into the land of the criminals.

Neal may think that revenge is the only option, he may think that it's what's best for everyone, but he's wrong and Peter will do anything to make him realize this. And when he does, Peter will be there. He'll be there to help Neal move on. Even if it takes a couple of months, Peter will not give up.

Because that's what partners do. They watch out for each other, they protect one another… and they sure as hell don't let their partner commit murder. Peter will see to that himself. Neal may hate him for it later, but Peter knows that Neal would do the same thing if the roles were reversed.

No matter what Neal says or does, Peter will be there to help him get back on his feet. Unless, of course, Neal does something that Peter can't get him out of. (Like steal Nazi plunder that is worth billions. Then it's up to Neal to get himself out of it.) Either way, Peter will be there. Watching... Waiting…

Watching for the signs that would get Neal into trouble. Waiting for the chinks in Neal's armor to appear.

Patience may not be his middle name, but Peter's got a lot of it. If he can keep up with Neal Caffrey for three years, he can wait for Neal to trust him enough to tell him the truth. It might take months, even years, but when Neal decides to tell him, Peter will be there. They are partners after all.


End file.
